Terrorists must be eradicated first and foremost by Syrian forces, Moscow says

It is the responsibility of the Syrian Armed Forces to eradicate the militants and terrorists operating in Syria, says the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

“I would like to point out without referring to yesterday’s talks [between President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan] that as far as efforts to eliminate militants and terrorists go, if they are designated as such, they must be eradicated, first and foremost, by the Syrian Armed Forces and the forces of countries that legally cooperate with the Syrian authorities,” Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing in the Russian capital city of Moscow on Friday.

On Thursday, Putin and Erdogan announced a ceasefire in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib. The truce came after a meeting in Moscow that lasted six hours.

Russia and Turkey on Thursday also agreed to establish a secure corridor along a key east-west highway in Idlib, and hold joint patrols there as of March 15.

In a joint statement read out by the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers, the two sides said the corridor would stretch six kilometers (3.7 miles) to the north and six kilometers to the south of the M4 highway.

They said their defense ministers would agree on the parameters of the corridor within a week.

Also on Friday, the Syrian army stressed that it will respond firmly to any violation of the ceasefire by terrorist groups in Idlib.

Separately in the neighboring province of Aleppo, Syrian army units uncovered a workshop which Takfiri militants used to produce cannons, rockets and artillery rounds to use in their battle against government forces besides attacks on residential neighborhoods.

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that Syrian soldiers made the discovery in the town of Kafr Hamrah, which lies in the northern countryside of the province.